by Lindsay H. Jones, USA TODAY Sports

by Lindsay H. Jones, USA TODAY Sports

INDIANAPOLIS - San Francisco 49ers quarterback Alex Smith will either be traded or remain with the team this offseason, coach Jim Harbaugh said Friday at the NFL scouting combine.

It is "unlikely," Harbaugh said, that the team would choose to release Smith should a suitable trading partner not be found for the former starting quarterback and No. 1 overall draft pick who was unseated by Colin Kaepernick in November. Kaepernick led the 49ers to the Super Bowl.

"We have the best quarterback situation in the National Football League," Harbaugh said.

Harbaugh said he made the first call to speak with his brother, John, after the Baltimore Ravens' Super Bowl win against Jim's 49ers. They talked football, including a little bit about the game, and Harbaugh said the experience coaching against each other on the NFL's biggest stage has brought the brothers closer together.

But now Jim Harbaugh is trying to move past the Super Bowl heartbreak.

"We are going to put our paw in the ground and attack the offseason with an enthusiasm unknown to mankind," Harbaugh said.

That includes a trip to Indianapolis to prepare for a draft in which the 49ers are armed with 14 picks. San Francisco made three trades during the 2012 draft.

"I won't be going out on a limb to say we'll be more active," Harbaugh said.